Everything I Really Need
by amateurwrit
Summary: Post-Hogwarts. Draco and Harry have been married for 11 years but there is a strain on their relationship when Draco can't get over one particular issue that Harry couldn't care less about.
1. Chapter 1

Harry stifled a yawn as he glanced at the clock beside his bed. 6:58. _As good a time as any I suppose _he thought, lifting himself off of the bed carefully, as not to wake the sleeping man beside him. He looked at Draco and sighed. He looked peaceful when he slept, content and completely at ease. _I wish he could stay like this all the time _Harry thought, leaning over and gently pushing a lock of Draco's hair out of his face.

Because of their incident in the bathroom in their sixth year, everything had changed between them. Harry had felt incredibly guilty at the curse he had cast and taken it upon himself to apologize to the Slytherin that he had hurt so badly. Soon after Draco accepted his apology, they formed a tentative friendship, eventually opening up to each other about their roles in the war that was fast approaching. It wasn't long after that Harry learned of how Draco became a Death Eater, against his will. Harry also realized how similar he and Draco really were. They were both being condemned to a life that was already planned out for them, the only difference being that Harry was a force being used for good and Draco was being pressed into supporting an unstable dictator in order to keep his family alive. They talked for hours each night, meeting each other at the site of Dumbledore's unfortunate demise, learning everything about each other, finally putting past differences aside. It was during one of these nights, standing side by side overlooking the Hogwart's grounds that they shared their first, sweet kiss.

"H-Harry?" Draco had stammered, looking over at him with his shining, silver eyes. They were full of an emotion that Harry had never seen in them before: shame, mixed with worry. "You don't think that I- that I actually wanted to kill Dumbledore, do you?" Harry sighed and looked into the poor boy's troubled gaze. "Draco," he started, gently taking Draco's hand in his, "I knew from the moment I found you in that bathroom that you were nothing but good." It was then that Harry saw young tears announcing themselves in Draco's eyes, only one escaping from the safety of those soulful orbs of silver and running down his cheek. Suddenly all the doubt and loneliness in Harry fell away. It was at that moment that he realized he had found someone who understood him completely and who he empathized with, someone with whom he could share his fears and who he had never felt such an intense connection with before.

Harry gently brought his hand to Draco's cheek, wiping away his tear and resting his hand on the cool, pale, skin which was rapidly becoming warmer at his touch. Draco's eyes widened, the truth of Harry's gesture becoming clear to him. "Harry I-"

But Harry never let him finish. He placed his lips softly and tentatively on Draco's, revelling in his softness, praying to Merlin that he wasn't jeopardizing the relationship they already had. It wasn't until he felt Draco pressing back a few short moments later that he felt relief wash over him and let his emotions completely take control of his body, leading him to deepen the kiss. Harry wound his arms around Draco, one hand tangling itself in his hair and then other resting gently on the small of Draco's back. Draco responded by wrapping his arms timidly around Harry's neck, allowing himself to sink into the depths of Harry's warm, sweet mouth.

After a few minutes of newly discovered passion, Harry pulled himself away from Draco, smiling at the groan of protest that escaped from Draco's lips. They looked at each other tenderly for another moment and turned back to face the night's sky. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Draco quietly whispered, "Why?" Lacing Draco's fingers with his own and pressing his lips to the Slytherin's temple, he murmured, "Because this is the first time since I was told about my fate with Voldemort that I haven't felt completely and utterly alone."

Harry and Draco had stayed up in the Astronomy Tower all night, just enjoying each other's company. No words had needed to be spoken, their small touches had said everything for them; they had simply watched the stars play with the moon, until the sun had come up to put them all to rest for another day. "You know Harry; I don't think I've ever watched the sun rise before. It's quite beautiful."

"You're beautiful." Harry whispered shyly. Draco rolled his eyes and gave Harry a playful shove. "You're mental."

"I'm exhausted." He admitted.

"You deserve it for making us stay up all night."

"You enjoyed it." Harry teased.

"I enjoy you." They both smiled.

"I love Draco brought his finger up to Harry's mouth to silence him. "Not just yet Harry," he murmured tenderly. "Let's save it for another day, yeah?"

Harry only nodded and kissed the finger still pressed to his lips. Draco sighed and leaned into Harry. After a few minutes he suddenly stiffened and looked up at the raven-haired boy, eyes wide with alarm. "Harry…aren't you dating the She-Weasel?"

Shit.

Harry laughed at the memory, remembering the horrified look on Draco's face, absently thumbing his wedding band. That also reminded him of the permanent scar he had on his left knee from Ginny hexing him when he told her why they had to end things.

The two had been married for eleven years now, and although they were some of the best years of Harry's life, their marriage was constantly strained over one particular issue that made Draco unbearably upset and one that Harry couldn't have cared less about: work. After the war had ended, it was Harry who saved Draco and Narcissa from being sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban, testifying that they had indeed fought for the Light Side by helping him escape Voldemort's clutches twice.

His efforts however, were (somewhat) in vain, as the Malfoy family name was forever tarnished by their alliance with the Dark Lord. Even though their name was cleared, most of the Wizarding World still had problems accepting them as good wizards, making it difficult for them to regain a place in society. Draco had tried as hard as he could to find a respectable job, hoping that his exceptionally good marks would account for something. They didn't. Every time he sent in an application, he was faced with almost immediate rejection and Harry knew how hard he took it, especially after they had their three wonderful children Albus Severus, Scorpius Hyperion, and Lily Iris. During the first few years of marriage, they had been living off Draco and Harry's inheritances, while Harry completed his Auror training. Once the children were born however, they quickly realized that their parents' money was not going to be enough to live on for very long. Long, drawn out arguments were soon to follow.

The night before -

"Harry, our family needs to eat, needs clothes on their backs, you can't do everything alone. It's too much for you to handle, it's too much for anyone to handle." Draco said sharply, distancing himself from Harry and turning away from the brunet's burning emerald gaze.

"But I'm not just anyone am I, Draco?" Harry said slyly, moving closer to his husband.

"Harry stop, I'm serious." Draco snapped, pushing away the arms that were trying to embrace him.

"So am I, love." He said gently, giving up on having any physical contact with the irritated Slytherin.

Draco turned to Harry, incredulousness plastered all over his face. "What the bloody hell are you talking about, serious? You most certainly are not taking this seriously; you don't even think this is a problem!"

"That's what I mean; I'm serious when I say it's not serious. To be honest I don't understand why you think it's a problem whatsoever. I've talked to the Ministry and from what they've told me, we'll be well enough off, maybe the children won't be as impeccably dressed as you were but-"

"Well isn't that a tragedy in itself." Draco smiled bitterly. Harry wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to make Draco smile and replied with "Oh come on Draco love, I was never all that fashionable-"

"If that isn't the understatement of the century."

"-but I ended up with a pretty fit partner if I do say so myself."

"And you probably would have ended up with the bloke a lot sooner if you were." Harry's smile faltered only when he saw Draco scowl.

"MERLIN CAN'T YOU BE SERIOUS FOR ONE FUCKING MOMENT? Is that really too difficult for you? Did you ever think that maybe it's not just about the money? That it's also about how it looks? About how people see us?"

"I don't care about how it looks." Harry said quietly, not wanting to upset Draco any further.

"And there you are, making this all about you." Draco glared at Harry through narrowed eyes. And Harry saw red.

"You actually think I'm making this about myself? Do you even realize what you've been on about for the past few minutes? This is all you Draco! Your delusions, your problems, this really has NOTHING to do with me because all I've been trying to do is make you feel better! Sorry for caring!"

"Oh sod off, Potter." That was it. Draco only ever called Harry 'Potter' when he was on the verge of breaking down, or getting violent. Since Harry didn't wish to see either extreme present itself, he decided to back off. Little did he know that a tiny heroine was coming to save them, in the form of one Lily Potter-Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

"Papa? D-Daddy?" a small voice called out. "I heard yelling, it woke me up." Lily came into the room, tears falling down her young, smooth cheeks. Draco unsuccessfully tried to smile at his daughter, falling down on his knees to put his arms around her. Harry realized he had been holding his breath and slowly exhaled. He was filled with a feeling of guilt at forcing their five year old daughter to mediate their fights. He only had to look at Draco to know that he felt the same way.

"I'm sorry Pumpkin, Daddy just lost his temper, that's all, there's no need to worry anymore Princess." Draco soothed Lily's hair and bit his lip, trying not to let out the emotions running through him.

"I love you Daddy, and you Papa." She said, glancing at Harry. "I don't want…I don't want you to lose each other, I don't think I could bear to be away from you." Harry felt his breath catch, they could not keep doing this to her, to any of their children. Harry walked over to Draco and Lily, placing a hand on Draco's shoulder as he knelt in front of his now near hysterical daughter.

"Everything's alright love, I'm sorry we woke you up. I promise you that everything is alright now, we're all going to be just fine." Harry turned his gaze to Draco, feeling his heart break at the tears forming in his beautiful grey eyes. "We're going to be just fine."

Picking up Lily in his arms, Draco carried her out of their room and started down the hall to her bedroom, pausing to glance back at Harry. "I think she needs both of us right now." He said softly, continuing down the hallway. Harry followed close behind, silently praying that this was the last night that they would have to do this, at the same time knowing, sadly, that it wouldn't be.

As Draco was carefully tucking Lily back into her bed, Harry took out his wand and murmured "Incendio" towards the fireplace, producing a brilliant flame that casted a soft glow over the room. Sitting down on the bed opposite his husband, Harry gazed lovingly at his daughter, running his fingers softly through her light brown hair. Gazing into her bright brown eyes, he cursed himself and Draco for causing her pain. Draco pulled the covers over her trembling body and leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't cry my sweet. It's over now. Your Papa and I are very sorry, but I assure you everything is fine. Life is just hard at times and boys don't always have a very good way to deal with it, myself especially."

Lily stared wide-eyed at her parents and whimpered, "Is it because of me then? Do I make your lives hard?"

Draco placed both his hands over her cheeks, gazing deeply into her eyes. "Don't you ever think that you are the cause of our problems. Never, not even for a minute; do you understand me?" he replied gently, yet firmly. Draco smoothed her hair as Lily nodded and looked at Harry, almost in confirmation of what her papa had just told her. "You bring us nothing but joy Sweet Pea, we love you more than anything else in the world." She gave him and small smirk, eerily similar to that of a young Draco Malfoy, and said"Even more than Albus or Scorpius?" A smile broke out on her face as she watched Harry pause, uncertain of how to respond, and as she saw the boyish grin of her Slytherin father appear.

"We'd be nothing without any of you." Draco replied, lifting himself up from the bed. Harry chuckled as he watched the smile fade into a pout, as he got up to follow Draco out of the room. "Don't pout love," Draco called softly, "it makes you look uncannily like your Papa." Harry's eyes narrowed in a 'I-don't-pout' kind of glare but gave his husband a playful push towards the door. Lily giggled from her bed and said, "You might want to check on the boys as well, I suppose you woke them up too." Harry winked at his daughter and closed the door.

Turning to face Draco, Harry nodded towards the other two bedrooms down the hall. "Together or one on one?" he asked, making his way down the corridor.

"Together." Draco replied. "It might send the wrong message if we do it separately." Harry nodded and gave Draco's hand a quick squeeze before cracking open the door to Scorpius' room. Peeking inside to see if his son was awake or not, he entered the room to find the boy hunched over his bed, reading a very thick book by the dull light of the moon shining in from his window. "You're going to wreck your eyesight if you keep that up." Harry said, smiling as the young blonde jumped, scared out of his wits by the unnoticed intrusion. He gulped and turned his head away from Harry bashfully. "Yes Papa." He said, closing his book and placing it gently on the floor as Harry sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You also shouldn't be up at this hour, young man." Draco added, sighing as he picked up a t-shirt strewn on the floor and hung it up in the closet. "I know," Scorpius mumbled. "Tell me Dad, why don't you use magic for that?" he asked, nodding towards the closet.

"It's nice to do things for yourself every so often," Draco said, and upon noticing the doubtful look on his sons' face, added "and your father and I don't want to rub it in that we can practice magic and you can't, at least not all of the time." He winked and sat down next to Harry. Scorpius tucked himself in under the covers and looked up at his parents. Harry cleared his throat. "I'm sorry he glanced and Draco, "we're sorry rather—that you had to hear all that. We don't want you three to hear the things we erm….discuss when you have nothing to do with it."

A confused look crossed the boy's face. "Hear what?" he asked.

"You mean you didn't hear anything?" Draco asked incredulously, astonished at the fact that the whole neighbourhood hadn't heard their argument.

Harry gave his son a quizzical look. "If we didn't wake you up, then why weren't you asleep?"

Scorpius flushed and mumbled something along the lines of "Oh right, of course, yes that thing. Yup that's what woke me up all right, couldn't even get back to sleep after that, so I thought I'd read." He flashed a guilty look at Harry. Even though Harry knew he should reprimand his son for staying up way into the night, he just couldn't. He looked far too much like Draco, matching all of the Slytherin's features as a boy save for his bright blue eyes. "Scorpius Hyperion, it's not good to lie He started.

"I know but—but…Albus is awake too!"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "And just how do you know that?"

"He sent me a note with Pax asking me if I was still up."

Harry baulked. "He sent you an owl? You realize he's only in the next room over right?"

"I know that, that's why I didn't send him one back, I just told him through the wall!"

Harry sighed, turning helplessly to Draco. "I just can't do it. He looks too much like you; I can't be upset with him." Draco raised an eyebrow. "Oi, but you have no problem being upset with me!"

Harry gazed at his husband with mock-tenderness. "Yes but I can never stay upset with you Darling." He said, all traces of sarcasm leaving his face. Draco smiled back lovingly, both men getting lost in the others' gaze, forgetting the audience that was their son.

Scorpius groaned. "Um…excuse me," he said, propping himself up on one elbow. "I don't mean to sound like and eight year old boy but—"

"You are an eight year old boy." Draco and Harry told him in unison, making them to grin at one another.

"—but I'd rather not see you two all lovey-dovey together." He said, rolling his eyes.

"And why not?" Harry asked, putting on an indignant expression, causing Draco to chuckle.

"Because it's rather revolting." He explained, laying his head back down on the pillow and crossing his arms across his chest.

"And why is that?" Draco asked, patting his sons' knee over top of the covers.

"Because you're my parents, it's…icky. Definitely not something I want to see." He sighed, turning over to face the wall beside him.

"Funny, your sister doesn't seem to mind it," Harry teased, smoothing Scorpius' blonde hair.

"Yeah but she's a girl. She enjoys all that sappy stuff. Remind me to never be like that ever. It's absolutely horrid."

Draco smiled and got up, kissed his son's forehead and reached out a hand to Harry. "Come on Harry, I can tell when we're not wanted, you'll get away with it this time Scorpius. Besides, we don't want to postpone his dreams of Rose Weasley tonight now do we Harry?"

Scorpius bolted upright, colour rapidly making its way to his cheeks. "Why would you say that?" he asked incredulously, not making eye contact with either father.

Harry chuckled. "Hush now Scorpius, he's only joking. Sleep well then." Harry then allowed Draco to lead him out of the room, closing the door behind them. A voice from inside the room squeaked, "I don't like her! I don't!", causing both men to grin broadly as the made their way to their eldest sons' room.

Feeling confident that they would not be pulling Albus out of slumber, Draco knocked on the door and entered the room, finding a very startled Albus shooing Pax out of the window. "Why are you up and who are you sending an owl to at this hour? Your brother again perhaps?" Draco crossed the room and closed the window for his son. "Bed." He commanded gently, as his placed his hands on Albus' shoulders, directing him to the bed as Harry pulled back the covers. Albus slipped underneath his comforter, looking wary, his facial expression looking much older than his nine years.

"Now who was that owl to?" Draco asked gently, pushing away the hair that had fallen in from of the young boy's face.

"It was for Lily," he replied meekly, not meeting glances from either father. Harry looked to his husband, trying to read the emotion on his face. Draco gazed softly at his son. "And why is that?"

Albus squirmed under his blankets and looked away. "I heard you fighting and I knew Lily would be upset, I just wanted to make sure she was alright, but I didn't want to wake her if she wasn't awake. I owled Scorp too, but he was alright." He looked up nervously at the faces of his fathers, blue eyes bright with concern. Both Draco and Harry's mouths fell open at Albus' protectiveness over his siblings. Harry, still being at a loss for words over his sons' thoughtfulness, was slightly relieved when Draco started to speak.

"I'm so sorry," he began, voice breaking as a sob caught in his throat. Albus gave his father a confused look and instinctively reached to hug him. Harry put his arms around the two as Draco continued. "I'm sorry that we've—that I've—put you in this position. You are just a boy and you shouldn't have to worry about your family like this, especially at such a young age." Harry gave Draco a sad look and rubbed his back soothingly. He knew that Draco would never intentionally do anything to upset his children. The whole reason he was so upset was because he was such a fantastic father. He was always giving everything he had every single day in order to care for each of their kids, taking them places with him, making time for them to visit with their friends, being loving, yet firm with them when they broke the rules and overall, teaching them how to be good people. Something that never ceased to amaze Harry was how well their children had been raised. His heart swelled with pride that is was so obviously due to how well Draco supported them, being there for them whenever he was needed. Harry had realized long ago that he himself had learned how to be a good father from Draco's influence.

As if reading Harry's mind, Albus looked up at Draco and said"Dad, you are a wonderful father, both of you are. They best any of us could have ever imagined. You worry about us constantly and I just want to make sure you're not completely responsible—"

"We are completely responsible," Draco replied gently. "we're your parents."

"I know that, but…well you just shouldn't have to be censoring your arguments completely because of how it might affect us. Everybody fights and we know that, it's healthy. But if you are always worried about how we'll take it, you won't focus on fixing the problem and everything will just get worse. That's why I wanted to talk to Lily and Scorp, so that you two could focus on you." Draco looked incredulously at his son and exchanged a look with Harry. Albus gulped, thinking he had crossed a line.

"Harry, I suppose I was mistaken in thinking that we had a nine year old. Our son has obviously grown up dramatically and is wiser than we could have ever imagined."

Harry smirked at Draco, but was also utterly astonished at his sons' maturity. A true Gryffindor! He thought proudly.

Draco looked thoughtfully into his son's eyes, placing his hands once again on Albus' shoulders. "You are the finest young man that I've ever known. Your love for this family is something to be proud of and the fact that you are so understanding of something you have no experience with is truly remarkable. I have never been more proud to call you my son."

Albus smiled widely, basking in his father's praise.

"That being said," he continued. "I don't want you to have to worry yourself so much over what happens between your father and I. You deserve to be a nine year old boy, not our chaperone. So you focus on being a kid alright?"

Albus nodded slowly, finally allowing himself to lie back and try to sleep. Harry gazed fondly at his son and glanced at his tousled soft, raven hair. It was sticking up in different places and Harry smiled, knowing Albus had, unfortunately, gotten that hair from him. Draco placed a soft kiss on the top of Albus' head and walked over to the door.

Harry placed his hand affectionately over top of where Draco had kissed it and stood up to follow his husband out of the room.

"Goodnight, son." Draco called from the doorway. As he and Harry were about to step into the hallway, they were called back by a soft murmur of "Dad? Papa?"

"What is it Albus?" Harry asked, turning around.

"I love you." With that, Albus turned over and fell asleep almost immediately. It was half past midnight after all.

"We love you too, dear, dear boy." Harry whispered softly, exiting the bedroom and turning to face his husband. He was startled to find tears streaming down Draco's face.

Harry went to him immediately, taking the trembling man in his arms and exhaling as he felt Draco wrap his arms tightly around his waist. Rubbing Draco's back, Harry whispered soothing words in his ear. "What have I done?" he sobbed, his head buried in Harry's neck. "How could I have been so stupid?" Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Finally he gets it!

"Come love, let's go to bed. We can talk there." Leading his husband to their bedroom, he entered and caught Draco's lips in his in a single, sweet kiss. He placed a hand on each side of Draco's face and gazed deeply into his beautiful, grey eyes. "You are my husband, my soul mate, my friend. You are also the father of my children and you are bloody wonderful at it. Please don't ever forget that." Draco kissed Harry again, pulling him closer to him, his fingers wrapping around the belt loops of Harry's trousers. "Mmm, this family is the best thing to happen to me," he whispered between kisses.

Harry leaned back and grinned. "You must be really grateful for me then," When Draco raised his eyebrow he added"as I am to you, for giving me everything I could have only dreamed of." Draco relaxed and nodded, bringing his arms around Harry for an intimate embrace. Harry squeezed him back and drawled in his ear, "May I show you how grateful I am?" Draco sighed against him contentedly.

"Mmmhmm."

Harry smiled broadly and pushed Draco back gently onto their bed, blazing emerald never leaving molten silver. Draco let out a moan of anticipation as Harry fell gently over top of him, teasing him with a slow grind. Pressing his mouth firmly over Draco's, he caressed the other man's tongue, letting go of all his previous frustrations. As Harry leaned over Draco, one elbow propped up on the bed, he started carefully and deliberately undoing the buttons of Draco's shirt, the slowness driving the trembling man beneath him mad with want. Draco reached up wound his fingers through Harry's thick dark locks, arching his body up against Harry.

Harry pulled away and smiled. "Now now love," he teased. "No need to be hasty, we have" he leaned back down for a slow, tantalizing dance with Draco's tongue, "all night."

Draco shivered and moaned, leaning back against his pillow as Harry finished unhooking all the buttons of his shirt and pushing it off of his shoulders, kissing his neck and chest in between the pulling of fabric.

Harry smiled down at Draco, a thrill running through him as he saw the desire pooled in his lover's eyes. Draco leaned up and took Harry's lips in his own, begging the other man to sense his desperation and give him what he needed. Running his hands over Harry's chest, he grabbed the material separating himself from his husband's body and hastily pulled it up over Harry's head.

Harry chuckled as Draco reached for Harry's trousers, allowing Draco to undo the zipper but stopping him as he tried to pull them off. Draco looked up at Harry incredulously. Harry's breath caught at the beauty of what was right before his eyes. Seeing his lover laying beneath him, shaking with anticipation, a look of pure longing etched in his handsome face, Harry couldn't stop himself from grasping the blondes hands in his, lacing their fingers together.

"Harry—please…" Draco begged softly, closing his eyes. Harry let a soft growl escape from deep within him upon hearing the sensual voice of a very desperate-sounding Draco Potter-Malfoy. But the man before him would need to hold on a little longer. All good things come to those who wait after all.

Harry smirked at Draco. "Not so fast my love," he breathed, tenderly running his fingers through Draco's hair. "What's the rush?"

Draco whined, unable to mask the yearning in his voice, "And you call yourself a Gryffindor," he murmured, running his hands along Harry's bare arms. "Your intentions are purely Slytherin." Harry smiled.

"What can I say, I learned from the best."

With that, Harry wandlessly cast a Silencing Charm around the room and proceeded to satisfy his husband's every desperate, carnal desire.

Later

Harry was lying back in his bed, looking up at the ceiling; his arm snaked around the body of a very contented Draco.

"With make-ups like that, it's a wonder we don't fight daily." Draco teased, as Harry placed a kiss on his mess of blonde hair. Harry groaned softly at the touch of Draco's fingers lightly tracing patterns across his bare chest. "Git."

"Prat." Draco retorted.

"I love you."

"I loved you first."

"I love—wait, what? No you didn't." Harry looked down at his husband, confusion plastered across his face.

"Oh but I did," Draco replied, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist. "I loved you long before you did. You fell in love with me that night in the Astronomy tower, yeah? The first time we kissed?"

"Of course, I had been about to tell you that too, but you stopped me…I only assumed it was because you hadn't felt the same."

"Yes you would, wouldn't you? But you can also be rather thick at times, no? I've loved you ever since the night you brought me to the Hospital wing."

Harry baulked. That had been months before their first kiss. "You realize that was the night I almost killed you right?"

"Well obviously dear, why else would you have taken me to the Hospital wing?" Harry rolled his eyes but focussed all of his attention on the warm blonde man snuggled up against him.

Knowing Harry wanted him to continue, Draco began his story once again. "You see Harry, there was a reason that I was always such an insufferable bastard to you. I was jealous."

Harry smiled and hugged Draco. "Well I figured as much, you couldn't stand not being in the spotlight."

"You really are thick Harry. That wasn't it at all."

Harry's eyes widened. "Then what was it?"

"I was jealous of everyone around you." He said softly. When Harry stayed silent, Draco continued.

"Even from our first year, the first time we met, I knew you were special. A good person. Probably the best I would ever know. I had caught a glimpse of it in Madame Malkin's shop, and after that, I became obsessed with seeing it again, and after you turned me away for Weasley, my desperation and foolish pride caused me to fall back on everything I had ever been taught: denial and malice. I couldn't admit to anyone that all I wanted urgently was to see you look at me, the same way you came to look at everyone else. That glimmer in your eyes, the smile playing on your lips. It consumed me. I soon realized that maybe it was better that I never caught a glimpse of it, because I wouldn't be able to control how it would make me feel, how it would make me feel about you.

So, with my mind and heart constantly conflicted, I sought you out, tried to get a rise out of you, forcing myself to believe that seeing that harsh contrast when you looked at me was enough, knowing it wasn't. I just…I just needed to be around you. Hoping that one day, despite how horrible I had been to you, you would let down your walls for me, like you did everyone else, and smile; Show me that joy in your eyes like whenever you saw Ron, or Hermione or little Colin Creevey, for Merlin's sake. Anything but the anger that I drew out of you. But by sixth year it was too late.

The moment when you realized what I had done to Katie, I knew it was all over. I would never see that pleasure in your gaze that I had often witnessed from afar. That realization, aside from the weight of my previous actions, was what finally broke me down in that bathroom. And then there you were, seeing me at my most vulnerable, my weakest moment, a feat that no one had ever accomplished before. And through all that, you had given me absolutely nothing, not even a smile. Harry, you were the only person in the entire world that had ever seen me like that, reaching my breaking point and not knowing how to carry on. It was terrifying, and I reacted.

By I should have known that I was no match for you. Lying there on the floor, crying, I accepted the fact that I would never see that glorious expression, your smile, and your beautiful, joyous emerald eyes ever again. The whole world went black and it wasn't until I woke up to you at my side that I allowed myself to believe that all hope was not lost, that I would finally get what my heart most desired.

And then I saw it. That look in your eye, an expression spilling across you face that I never even dared believe I could ever see. It was wonderful; the emotion in your eyes was breathtakingly beautiful and the walls I had spent my whole life building up suddenly fell away. And my heart was yours. I'll always remember what you said to me'Draco I—I never meant…I didn't know. You may never forgive me, but. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

If only you knew then, Harry. Hearing my name on your lips, seeing that look of remorse flashing so brightly in your lovely emerald eyes, I had to forgive you. You completely forced it out of me; it was completely out of my control. I loved you Harry. Wholly and honestly, without any ulterior motive, for the first time in my entire life. It was life changing. I knew I had to get closer to you, whether that was through friendship or love, I just needed to feel you near me. For that day, and for every one after, and that hasn't changed at all in the past 14 years. I still need you just as much as I realized I did back then."

"But…in the Hospital wing, I wasn't smiling." Harry said stupidly, mouth hanging open.

Draco chuckled. "You didn't have to. When I looked at you I saw your innocence, your purity; a soul so gentle and caring that you felt sorrow at the near-destruction of your enemy. Harry, I had never seen anything like that in my life. I only saw my parents cower and submit, at the same time revelling in the demise of the people who were against us, celebrating the fall of the Light. It was despicable really. It wasn't until I got closer to you that I realized that I had never known love. My family wasn't inclined to hugs and softly whispered words of encouragement. I suppose it was through you that I felt alive, wild with emotion that I could finally express. You saved me Harry, I owe everything that I am to you. So that being said, yes, I'd say that I loved you first."

Harry's mouth continued gaping at the man in his arms. "But—but….how did this never come up before? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well if I wanted to be a snarky bastard I would say 'you never asked', but as it is I'd say it's because we're men. We're not completely soft. If I were a woman I would have told you eleven years ago."

"Well I think it's lovely. I never thought it would be possible to fall for you any harder but you've proved me quite wrong."

"Oh gods, I'm turning us both into saps, Scorpius is right, it's starting to be revolting."

Harry chuckled. "Oh I don't know about that, I rather like it. We don't have to be physical to be intimate with each other." He absently reached for Draco's hand, lacing their fingers together, stroking Draco's hand with his thumb.

Draco sighed. "I suppose you're right. It is a bit pleasant it's nice to feel fluffy inside once in a while."

"Fluffy?" Harry asked, stifling a laugh.

"Oh sod off, you know what I meant." Draco retorted affectionately, closing his eyes.

Breathing a sigh of contentment, Harry closed his own eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep.

Present

Pulling on his Auror robes, Harry grabbed his shoes from the closet and crept down the hall, as not to awaken his sleeping family members. He quietly opening the door to Lily's room and peeked inside. Panic rose in his chest as he saw her empty bed. Continuing briskly down the hall to Scorpius' room, he pushed open the door to face another empty bed. Frantically moving to the room of his eldest son he rushed into the room, eyes scanning the vacant bedroom. Where are they? They wouldn't leave the house right? His mind was running away with him and he was only vaguely aware that he was overreacting.

Reaching the stairs to kitchen he was relieved and surprised his children hard at work, pancake batter smeared across their faces, along with the better half of the kitchen. Harry watched as his children worked together, frying the batter over the stove, Albus starting the eggs in another pan, cracking the eggs carefully onto the skillet. Smiling, he made way down the rest of the stairs, catching the eyes of Lily, who screeched, attempting to hide the bowl of pancake batter, from her father's line of vision. "Papa, you weren't supposed to see yet! It was supposed to be a surprise!"

Harry smiled with amusement. "Well Pumpkin, I am surprised." Lily seemed to consider what he said and returned his smile. "Well all right then. Where's Daddy?" Harry crossed the kitchen, lifting up his small pancake-covered daughter and placing his hand on Scorpius' shoulder who was busy reading a recipe for French toast. "It seems easy in theory, rather messy though." He mumbled absently, flipping over the page. "Living like a Muggle is rather complicated, unnecessarily so…"

Harry smiled and turned to Albus, who had finished with the eggs and was moving on to thick slices of bacon. "And what is all this about?"

All three children started talking at once.

"After last night we thought—"

"We felt it would be nice to—"

"—do something nice, something we could all have together."

Harry's heart swelled at the sentiment. How he and Draco could bring something as beautiful and perfect as their family into this world was beyond him. He reached a cupboard to pull out the plates to set the table when Scorpius cut in. "Papa couldn't you use magic to do it, just this once? Dad isn't even up yet! He wouldn't even know about it!" Harry smirked. "What is it with you and magic?"

"It's brilliant! It's so fascinating but Dad is constantly on about how we have to do things for ourselves as not to take everything for granted. He can be rather mental sometimes can't he? Please can you do it? Please? It would be super wicked!" The other children nodded emphatically.

Harry smiled mischievously. "Well all right then, maybe just once, as long as you don't tell your father on me."

Scorpius' eyes widened, seriousness written all across his face. "I promise."

Harry winked and took out his wand, waving it around dramatically, causing plates, cups and cutlery to fly out of their cupboards and drawers and dance around the kitchen.

Harry grinned at the awed looks in the eyes of his children, watching animatedly. Lily squealed with delight and Albus laughed while Scorpius simply stared, mouth hanging open.

Finally, after a few minutes of harmless fun, the objects settled in their place on the table.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Scorpius exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Lily's eyes shone with wonder at the spectacle. Albus turned off the stove and started to set the food and other breakfast necessities on the table but not before a very surprised Draco came down the stairs to witness the end of the circus act taking place in his kitchen. "And what was all that about?" he scolded mockingly, winking at Harry. His children didn't notice the playfulness in his tone and all bowed their heads in shame. Realizing that they didn't know that he was joking, he smiled and opened his arms for the children to come to him for a hug. "It's quite all right. I shudder to think of how Harry would have set the table on his own anyway."

"Hey! I lived like a Muggle long before you did Draco! I wasn't the one who grew up with house elves."

Draco smirked. "Ahh, that's right. Forgive me for forgetting about your domestic talents." Harry laughed and gestured to the kitchen. "Look what our wonderful children decided to do for us this morning."

Draco beamed and pulled his family closer to him. "Yes, what a lovely scene to wake up to, how thoughtful of you three. Everything looks just wonderful! Let's tuck in, shall we?"

The three kids nodded vigorously and rushed to the table, leaving Draco free to give Harry a soft kiss on the lips. "Good morning love." He said dreamily, temporarily losing himself in the loving eyes of his husband.

"Mmm, good morning." Harry sighed, glancing appreciatively at his very elegantly dressed husband. It never ceased to amaze him how put together Draco always looked, it was all very endearing.

"Daaaad, what did I tell you about that sappy stuff! We're about to eat!" Scorpius whined, catching the exchange from his seat at the table.

"Oh don't listen to him," Lily squeaked, turning around to watch the scene thoughtfully. "I think it's rather enchanting!" Scorpius threw her a disgruntled look as Harry chucked and kissed to top of his daughter's head. Draco walked around to take his seat at one end of the table, sitting next to Scorpius and Albus. Harry sat down at the other end of the table, spelling two mugs of coffee to himself and Draco. Lily jumped up and ran to the refrigerator to bring a carton of orange juice to the table. Sitting back down, she passed the carton to Harry. "Papa, could you?"

"Sure Sweet pea." Harry took off the cap and poured some of the juice in her glass. "Anyone else?" Scorpius and Albus nodded, pushing their glasses towards him. After filling them up, he waved his wand and the carton shot back into the refrigerator, the door opening expectantly for the juice to return. Draco raised his eyebrow. "I think that's enough for one day, wouldn't you say?"

Harry ducked his head bashfully mumbling something along the lines of "I couldn't resist."

Draco chuckled and speared a pancake, placing it delicately on his plate. "Pass the eggs Albus?" Albus grinned and passed the plate over.

Soon after, when everyone was finishing up, Harry glanced at his watch. "Merlin is that the time? I'm already late!" he said, leaping up from the table, saying a hasty but heartfelt goodbye to his family. "I love you all, I'll see you tonight."

Draco smirked and winked at him. "We'll be here."

Harry smiled and disapparated, suddenly feeling proud and completely envious of his husband's ability to spend his days raising their three wonderful children.

Once Draco and the children had finished cleaning up their disaster of kitchen, the four of them walked into the living room and flopped down on various couches and chairs. "Wow," Draco sighed, "that was a lot of work!"

"Well it didn't have to be, it would have gone a lot faster if we didn't have to do it the blasted Muggle way!" Scorpius frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I don't know why you complain all the time Scorpius," Lily squeaked. "I rather liked it."

"Of course you liked it! All you did was sit on Dad's shoulders and put a few bowls in the cupboard! Albus and I did all the work! We scrubbed those sticky counters and we did all those bloody dishes by hand." Scorpius scowled at his sister, who stuck her tongue out at him in response. Draco sighed and glanced to Albus who simply shrugged at his somewhat exasperated father.

Draco stood up and came to a squat in front of his Scorpius. "Son, I want you to listen to me. I'm not going to raise my voice, and I'm not angry. I just want to make myself very clear all right?" Scorpius nodded.

"It would be very much appreciated if you stopped protesting the Muggle way of life that we've adopted. We don't make you hang up your clothes or vacuum your carpets to punish you—"

"Oh sure," Scorpius grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Draco grasped Scorpius' small hands in his own. "Please Scorpius, this is important. Listen to me, only for a minute. Can you do that?"

Scorpius looked into Draco's thoughtful eyes and sighed. "Yes Father."

Draco gave his hands a quick squeeze. "Thank you. Now as I was saying, doing things for yourself is not a punishment, it's a privilege. We need to embrace other ways of doing things as to fully appreciate everything that we have, and everything that we are. It keeps us humble. You know the story of Voldemort," Scorpius' eyes grew wide at the mention of his name and Draco heard the collective gasps of his other two children, "and you know that he hated and despised everything about Muggles and Muggle-born wizards. He refused to accept any part of their culture or identity and that consumed him. He was unable to acknowledge another way of life than his own and his hated caused him to kill a lot of innocent people. People who could accept others and respect them. Mixed blood families were scorned and muggle borns were punished with death. As Purebloods, my family and I supported the idea of our superior bloodline, not realizing how atrocious the whole thing really was. By the time I had become a Death Eater, I finally grasped the absurdity of the entire notion. Some of the greatest witches and wizards were mixed blood, just look at your father." Draco cleared his throat as he felt his eyes well up with tears. "But as I was saying, I have a lot to make up for, and I want it to be clear to you three that there is absolutely nothing wrong or inferior about the Muggle way of life, that it is respectable and worthwhile. Do you understand me son?"

Scorpius nodded gravely, shame and sadness written all across his face. "I-I'm sorry father, I had no idea he started before his lip trembled and he burst into tears. "I had no idea, I'll never complain about it again I swear!" Draco wrapped his arms around his son protectively. "There there, son. Shhhhh. Don't cry, it's not your fault. You're just a boy excited about the prospect of magic. Of course you would be upset at not being able to see it everyday. I know that. Shhhhh my boy. You are a good man and we all know that okay? It's all right, everything is all right." Scorpius nodded against Draco's shoulder, whimpering softly. Lily and Albus crept onto the couch and snuggled close to their brother. "Don't worry Scorp, we know you didn't mean it that way, I like magic too!" Albus gently rubbed the blonde boys' back. Draco let go of his son and looked lovingly to his family. "Maybe I do go a little overboard though yeah? Perhaps we could do a bit more magic around the house?" Draco smiled as he watched the faces of all three children light up. "Could we really Daddy?" Lily squealed.

Draco's heart swelled at the sight of his family, huddled so close, looking up at him with such innocence and want. "I suppose we could find a happy medium. That being said, I still expect you all to do your weekly chores, not much is going to change." Scorpius groaned mockingly, a wide grin reappearing on his young face. "Whatever you say Dad."

"And don't you forget it!"

With one quick group hug, the children clambered off the couch, running upstairs to get dressed and start the day's activities.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dad, is it time to go yet?" Scorpius whined, putting down his pencil and looking exasperatedly at his father.

"That depends, are you finished your arithmetic problems."

Scorpius squirmed in his seat. "Er….no."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Then no."

"But—"

"Just finish them Scorp, and then we can all go." Albus reached across Lily to pick up the pencil sharpener lying on the table. "I'm almost finished mine and Lily completed hers about ten minutes ago." Albus glanced at his sister with a look of pride gleaming in his eyes. Draco smiled at his eldest son.

The four of them were seated at the dining room table, Draco at the head, his sons at either side, with Lily sitting quietly beside Albus. The children were doing their daily assignments, today's subject being mathematics. Scorpius hated mathematics.

"Right, because twenty addition problems are ever so difficult." Scorpius complained. "I'm doing multiplication! It's at least twice as hard!" Scorpius gave a cry of defeat and dropped his head in his hands.

Draco gave his son a comforting pat on the back, forcing back a smile. "Scorpius, your father was right, you are far too much like me. You just need to stop being a stubborn prat and finish your work." Draco teased, reaching up to muss his son's platinum blonde hair.

Scorpius scowled at his father and screeched"Dad! Don't mess up my hair!" which caused a very amused Draco Potter-Malfoy to laugh outright.

Lily began to squeal with delight, revelling in the sound of her father's laughter. Albus just smirked and continued on his assignment with his newly sharpened pencil.

"Don't laugh at me! I just don't understand why this is important, why aren't we learning magic instead? All we do is study arithmetic and English and history and all that boring stuff. It's bollocks."

"Scorpius, don't say bollocks, it's a rude word." Draco reprimanded.

"Why not? Papa let's me say it."

"Your father is uncouth, don't listen to a thing he says."

Scorpius gave his father a confused look. "What does 'uncouth' mean?"

Draco grinned. "Well if you paid more attention in your English studies, maybe you would know."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes. "I am a perfect English student I'll have you know," he proclaimed, thrusting his chin in the air. "I read, that's all the lesson I need. Besides, I'm eight. I have an excuse. Although to be perfectly honest, I'm far more advanced with my reading than Albus or Lily."

"Are not!" the other children exclaimed, Albus tossing the pencil sharpener at his brother, hitting him square in the nose while Lily stuck out her tongue.

Scorpius glared at his siblings, "You're just jealous of my ability." He sniffed and turned back to his assignment. "Besides, it's a lot more useful than this."

Draco smiled warmly at his son. "You're right. You can put your fine language skills to good use. How about next week I make you write a love letter to Rose."

"Sounds perf—wait, what? No! Never! Why would you make me do that?" he sputtered, his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. Draco laughed and patted his son's hand.

Lily laughed and leaned over to smile at her brother. "It's okay Scorp! I'm pretty sure she fancies you too!" which only caused the young blonde to cringe in his seat, although his face held a hopeful expression. "Does not." He mumbled, expression turning sour as he dropped his head down to his paper.

Albus smiled good-naturedly at his younger brother. "Scorpius likes Roooooooose!" he teased, pushing his chair back and getting up to dance around the table towards his seething brother. "Scorpius has a girlfriend."

"DO NOT!" Scorpius bellowed, slamming his fists on the table, "Take that back right now Albus! I mean it!" Lily whimpered at her brother's menacing tone, but she went unheard.

Draco held up his hands in defence, sensing the hostile atmosphere. "Okay, okay, let's all step back and take a breath shall we? Albus, do no tease your brother about Rose, you know how it bothers him." Albus gave his father his bashful expression and murmured an apology to his brother. Draco then turned to face his youngest son. "That being said, I was the obnoxious git who started it all, wasn't I?" Scorpius glanced up at his father with a hurt and embarrassed look painted across his face and nodded. Draco placed his hand on his son's arm. "I'm sorry Scorpius, I don't mean to tease you, I am just excited for you, I remember the first time I fancied—"

"I don't fancy Rose."

Draco smiled. "Of course you don't." Scorpius took this as his father's apology and gave him a pointed look. "Wasn't Papa the first person you fancied anyway?"

Draco gave his son a bemused glance. "He wishes. No, I'm afraid for a brief period of time when I was about your age, it was your Aunt Pansy, though I do regret that she fancied me for much longer than I would have liked."

"But…but Aunt Pansy's a girl!" Scorpius sputtered. "You liked a girl? But Papa's a boy…" Scorpius became visibly pale, an even deeper shade of white than his usual ivory complexion. "DOES THAT MEAN I'M GOING TO START LIKING BOYS TOO?"

Draco was using all of his self-control to not burst into a fit of laughter. His other children however, did not have as much willpower as he did, as the sound of cackling children filled the dining room.

Maintaining a straight face, Draco gazed at his son. "And what would be so terrible about that may I ask?"

Scorpius blushed and ducked his head. "N-nothing father, your way of life is perfectly—"

"And I don't think that would be a problem for you, seeing how you don't fancy Rose."

Scorpius' cheeks turned a bright shade of pink as he mumbled something along the lines of "Er…right…well, no…but well…ALRIGHT I FANCY HER ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" he bellowed, shoving himself away from the table and stomping angrily to the staircase. "I hate every blasted one of you."

Draco chuckled as Albus and Lily both broke out in howls of laughter, Albus clutching his stomach with one hand and slapping the table with the other. Draco winked at his fuming son as he marched loudly up the stairs. "We love you too, Scorpius!" He called before giving in the laughter himself.

If the family seated at the dining room table had been listening carefully for the livid boy upstairs, Scorpius would have been in a heap of trouble for uttering a long slew of rude words.

:

It wasn't until lunchtime that Scorpius came down from his room, huffing angrily. Draco smiled and gave a look to his other two children. "Will you excuse us please?"

"But it's going to be funny! Please let us stay!" Albus pleaded, throwing his father a sparkling smile.

"Cute, but no. Go play with your sister until I call you for lunch."

Albus grumbled but exited the room with his young sister. Lily grinned and ran up the stairs. "Come on Albus, we can play with my dolls!" Albus sighed and reluctantly followed her up the stairs.

Scorpius sat down at the table opposite his father and sagged his shoulders. Draco waited for his son to speak. "Why did you have to say that Dad? Now everyone knows I like her. What if they tell her? I would never be able to go over there ever again!" The twisted expression on his young son's face caused a pang of guilt to immerge in Draco's chest.

"They won't." he told Scorpius softly. "Trust me they won't."

Scorpius looked incredulously at his father. "You really think that? You're rather thick aren't you? Albus is probably owling her as we speak!"

"I talked to them soon after you went upstairs, we were all just teasing. No one is going to tell Rose Weasley a thing about how you feel about her. You have my word."

Scorpius sniffed and gave him a weak smile. "Okay, I'll trust you." Draco's eyes widened with surprise That went better than expected.

"But Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, why? Now Albus and Lily know that I want to be all sappy with Rose!"

Draco raised his eyebrow in slight alarm. "And what exactly do you mean by 'be all sappy with Rose.'?"

The young boy blushed and looked down at his hands. "You know, like you and Papa."

"WHAT!" Draco raked his fingers through his hair nervously and looked anxiously at his son.

Scorpius gave Draco a puzzled look. "What's wrong with that? You and Papa always gaze longingly at each other and hold hands and….and…kiss—"

Draco breathed a sigh of relief and walked around the table to put his hand comfortingly on his son's shoulder. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Except maybe wait a few years before you kiss her, alright?"

It was Scorpius' turn to be relieved. "Oh yes, of course I will wait! That particular part seems the ickiest anyway."

Draco chuckled. "You have no idea…" Noting his son's confused expression he stuttered, "but right, we should get to lunch, we still have to go to the Weasley's today and we can't be late."

Scorpius expression changed to one of horror. "We're going there…..today? What if Rose is there, how will I look her in the eye? I can't. I simply can't. I refuse, I will not go."

An hour and a half later, the four of them were standing in the Weasley's living room, a nervous Scorpius glancing anxiously around the room for any sign of a certain Weasley girl. Albus grinned at his brother and proceeded to run off to find his best friend Hugo. Lily skipped off to find Rose, a devilish grin making Scorpius squirm uncomfortably and press himself against his father's side. "It's okay Scorp, no need to worry."

The young boy nodded but kept close as Draco made his way to the kitchen to find Ron and Hermione. "We're here!" he called. "But you may have already figured that out from the obnoxious laughter and thumping about. Children! Can we please save waking the dead for some other time?"

A chorus of 'Yes Dad' and 'Yes Mr. Potter-Malfoy' was heard from upstairs. Hermione came out through the dining room entrance and sighed. "Thank you."

"Not at all." Draco smiled and embraced her, taking in her attire. She wore new robes, crisp and black, overtop a black and white pantsuit, accentuated by a black velvet headband that was keeping her mess of light brown hair at bay. "My my, don't we look sharp. And are these new earrings?" Hermione blushed and absently reached up to touch the small, golden roses. "Yes, an anniversary present from Ron." She added shyly. "And as for the robes, the Ministry insisted. Ron has some new ones too." As she said this, Ron made his appearance in his new robes, the men's version of his wife's. They made quite a pair. Draco nodded his hello to Ron and clapped him on the back as he came to stand beside the blonde. "How's it going Weaslebee? Everything is well on the home front? There's no weird illness' I should be worried about catching or anything.

Ron chuckled. "No, everything's great Draco. Thanks for doing this, we really appreciate it. Mom and Dad are visiting Charlie so they can't watch them this week. You're really helping us out."

Draco held up his hands. "Honestly it's not a problem, I love Hugo and Rose almost as much as my own and the children he paused, leaning in close to whisper.

"Actually, Scorpius has taken quite the liking to Rose." He winked and Ron visibly paled. "My little girl?" he squeaked.

Hermione laughed at her husband and smiled gleefully at Draco. "Oh that's just wonderful! If they get married we can all be related!"

The two men looked at her incredeously. "They're eight Draco started.

"Blimey Hermione don't you think it's a little early to be making wedding arrangements?"

Hermione sighed. "It was just a thought. No need to go mental."

Draco grinned. "Women! Honestly I don't know how you do it Ronald."

Ron grinned back. "I know, you really caught a lucky break with the whole 'liking blokes' thing. At least you and Harry understand each other!"

Draco laughed as a very exasperated Hermione smacked her husband's shoulder. "Oh honestly! Forget I said anything!" she huffed and walked into the living room, disapparating away.

Ron smiled. "Well I guess that's my cue then. But thanks again, we'll see you after work." Draco waved goodbye before spelling a few things onto the kitchen table and headed upstairs to find the children.

Draco walked in to Hugo's room to find the three boys play-fighting. Or that was what Draco chose to believe they were doing. He was slightly alarmed at the sight before him. Albus was sitting beside Hugo's head, holding Hugo's arms down over his head while Scorpius was bending one of his legs over to the other side of his body. The only thing stopping him from separating the boys was Hugo's assured, albeit strained, confirmation that he was having a good time. Draco relaxed and smiled. "Boys will be boys," he shrugged. "Where are the girls?"

"In Rose's room." Albus replied, his tongue lying outside of his mouth in concentration. "Alright, thank you." Draco said. "But you boys know that you let Hugo up the minute he says so right?"

A chorus of yes' echoed throughout the room. With a quick nod, Draco left to check on the girls.

Upon reaching the door to Rose's room, Draco paused, hearing a quiet conversation that peaked his interest.

"Why are you calling me your sister Lily?" Rose asked timidly.

"Because you will be." Lily replied matter-of-factly. Draco smirked, realizing where this was going. Rose didn't.

"What do you mean? How can I ever be your sister?"

"You'll be my sister when you marry Scorpius." Draco covered his mouth to silence his laughter as he imagined a mortified Rose blushing profusely. He was so concentrated on keeping quiet that he almost missed a small voice responding with "I think I'd rather like that."

Draco supressed the urge to squeal and run to the other room. Merlin I've gotten soft. He thought, scolding himself. With a shake of his head he pushed open the door and smiled as he saw a blushing Rose Weasley glancing back at him with wide eyes. "How long have you been there?" she demanded sharply. Lily just grinned broadly and jumped up to hug her father. Draco smiled, picking up his daughter and holding her in his arms. "Just got here actually, why, what did I miss?"

"Rose is going to ma—"

"NOTHING!" Rose bellowed, reminding Draco of his son from this morning. Draco just smirked and nodded.

"Well I just wanted to see what you were up to." Draco replied. "I thought we'd do painting today. I feel a bit of creativity running through me at the moment, what do you think?"

Lily squealed in response and Rose nodded, relieved that Draco supposedly hadn't heard the previous conversation.

"Let's say we round up the boys, yeah?"

Lily squirmed until she was free from her father's arms and ran out of the room to tell the boys of their plans. Draco held out his hand for Rose to help her up from the floor.

"You heard everything didn't you?" she said as they walked out of the room, looking straight ahead as to not meet his glance. Draco remained silent, contemplating his response.

Rose sighed and looked up at him pleadingly. "Just don't say anything, okay?"

"Rose dear, I don't think you have anything to worry about." Draco smiled and winked. Rose blushed.

Upon hearing excited yells from the boys room and the thunderous sound of footsteps charging down the stairs, Draco apparated himself and Rose into the kitchen, next to the table where the tubes of paint and stacks of paper and paint brushes he had set out had been left unnoticed. The four children on the stairs just stared open-mouthed in shock.

"Not fair!" yelled Scorpius, blue eyes wide with disbelief. "You never apparate with us!"

Draco smirked. "Then how on earth do you think we got here, Scorp?" he teased.

His eyes narrowed. "You know what I mean."

Rose giggled. "I'm sorry Scorpius," she blushed. "it won't happen again."

Scorpius' cheeks turned pink as he and the other children made their way over to the table.

Draco began to set up the paint trays, pouring different colours into each little square. He walked over to the sink to fill a tray with water and spelled five smocks into the room, one on each chair.

"I like that you're using magic Daddy." Lily said joyously. "It's fun to watch."

Albus and Hugo sat down at the table, each pulling on their smocks. "What's the theme today Dad?" Albus asked. Draco usually had a theme for each of their art projects.

Lily pulled herself up to her seat and Draco helped her with her smock. "Hmm let's see. How about magic?"

Each child nodded enthusiastically and reached for their brushes. Draco noted that Scorpius and Rose were the last to the table, sitting side by side, wearing matching crimson on their cheeks.

Half an hour later the children were still hard at work when Scorpius looked up from his paper, smiling in satisfaction. Lifting himself from his chair, he walked over to his father to show him his finished painting.

Draco took the picture from his son's outstretched hand and smiled. Scorpius had obviously put a lot of thought into it. The background was comprised of a grassy field among a starry night and growing out of the grass was a single red rose. It was quite beautiful, especially for an eight year old.

"Do you like it?" Scorpius asked, his eyes looking hopefully to his father.

"I think it's brilliant," Draco answered, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I think it's good enough for the fridge wouldn't you say?"

Scorpius squirmed and a troubled expression crossed his young face. "Erm…is it okay if I keep it?" he asked meekly.

Draco smiled. "Of course." He said, handing it back.

Scorpius grinned and took his picture back to the table. Draco watched as his son nudged the girl sitting beside him and showed it to her. Rose's face broke out in a smile. "Scorpius it's beautiful!" This exclamation caused the other three children to glance up from

The young boy blushed. "It's for you," he told her, pointing to the picture. "See, it's a rose…because that's your name. And I'm named after stars, so I put them there too, because…well because it's from me." He stammered, dropping his hands in his lap and looking down.

"It's lovely, thank you Scorpius." Rose said, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on the boy's cheek. If Scorpius had blushed before, it was nothing compared to the colour he turned now. Draco suppressed a laugh as he watched his young son stiffen and slowly turn to smile at Rose. "Y-you're welcome Rose."

"That was disgusting." Hugo complained.

"Atta boy Scorp!" Albus said, laughing.

Lily just grinned and turned around to face her father. "Rose is going to be my sister one day, just like I said!" Draco stayed silent, offering a smile to his daughter.

The painting had turned out to be wildly successful. Albus had painted a picture of a wizard casting a spell at a kitchen chair, the magic being a lovely bright purple and apparently transfiguring it to a cat, which was illustrated nicely at the corner of the page. Both the Weasley children had painted the Gryffindor crest, much to Draco's amusement and Lily had painted a picture of the magical moments from breakfast that morning. Draco was thoroughly impressed at the effort they put in. He picked up the pictures by Rose and Hugo and stuck them to the fridge. "Brilliant, I'm sure your parents will be really pleased with this."

He turned around as he heard the scraping of chairs and excited footsteps heading towards the back door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Draco folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the counter.

"We always go flying after our Art assignments, don't tell me you've forgotten!"

Draco just smirked at his eldest son. "Or maybe you've forgotten that there is a mess in the kitchen that needs to be tidied."

There was a collective groan as the children glanced miserably at the kitchen table which was splattered with paints and loose papers. There was a small puddle of murky water that had splashed out of its container underneath the table as well. Half of the papers were stuck to the table with dried paint.

Albus sighed and turned to the others. "Well, you heard the man, let's hop to it."

Draco beamed. A true Gryffind—wait what?

After ten minutes the kitchen almost looked how it had before, save for a blue spec of paint that just wouldn't come off the corner of the table.

"Alright, go get your brooms, I'll be out in a minute. And no leaving the ground until I get there alright?

The children responded with squeals of delight and pushed each other out of the way to get to the door.

Draco chuckled. "Guys! You're not going to fly any faster if you're out there first so let's try to act moderately civilized? In single file perhaps?"

The children nodded at him and then raced to the door once again. Draco waved his hand at them in defeat and turned to magic the paint spots off of the table.

Walking out in the sunshine a few minutes later, Draco proceeded to


End file.
